Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The invention relates to a writing instrument-caliper system that is especially useful to a physician (or other person) who must write large amounts of information as well as make frequent precise measurements.
A physician frequently carries both a writing instrument and sheathed calipers in his/her pocket. The sheath is in place so as to protect the physician from the sharp end points of the caliper legs. When the physician wishes to measure intervals or distances on an electrocardiogram (ECG), he/she removes the calipers from his/her pocket and un-sheaths them. The sharp end points of the calipers are deployed to measure distances or intervals on the ECG. The sharp end points are then used to compare the measured distance or interval to other similar distances or intervals. Alternatively, the sharp end points can be held against a numerical scale to obtain a numerical measurement of the distance or interval. The physician then removes a writing instrument from his/her pocket and deploys it to record these measurements in the patient""s medical record. Frequently, the sheath for the dividers is misplaced and lost. This prevents the physician from returning the dividers to the pocket of his/her clothing because of the risk of the sharp end points piercing the physician""s skin. It would be useful to a physician (or other person who makes frequent measurements from a chart or graph) to have a single device or a system that could be deployed both as a caliper and as a writing instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,564,908 discloses calipers with a bracket for holding a writing instrument the tip of which is adjacent to one of the sharp points of the calipers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,921 discloses calipers used as a navigational instrument, with a channel in the structure for frictionally receiving a writing instrument that can be gripped, removed from the channel, inverted, and reinserted with its writing tip protectively inside the channel. The disclosed navigational device includes various indicia that enable it to function as a protractor and as a distance-measuring device. Although the navigational instrument incorporates a writing instrument and calipers, it would not be suitable for use by physicians, because the divider tips are unprotected by a sheath when not in use, and the writing tip cannot be protected except by removing the writing instrument, inverting it, and reinserting it in the receiving channel, which would be more inconvenient than the present practice of using a separate sheathed caliper and a conventional writing instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,881 discloses a multi-purpose combination writing instrument which can serve as a straight edge, a compass and a writing instrument. This device can be deployed as a writing instrument for general drawing or notation, or after some modification it can be deployed as a compass to draw arcs or circles, or it can be disassemble to be used as a straight edge and writing instrument to draw straight lines. This device is composed of a compass in which each leg takes the form of a half-hexagon in cross section. When the half-hexagonal compass legs are brought together and the compass is fully closed, the legs combine to form a hollow tube, which is hexagonal in cross section. A writing instrument can be movably placed between the legs of the compass and a protective cap can be placed over the tip of the writing instrument. The single sharp end point must be removed from the compass legs in order for the writing instrument to be placed between the half-hexagonal compass legs. The sharp end point can be placed in the cap for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,571 discloses a reversible pen-caliper device and method for use by cardiologists that can be used as a caliper to measure distances on a chart or ECG, can then be reversed and utilized as a pen to make notations regarding these measurements, and then can be safely carried in a shirt pocket without poking through the clothing and skin of the user. Specifically, this device includes a retractable ballpoint pen assembly, an oppositely disposed caliper assembly, and a snug-fitting rigid sheath that is slidable over either the caliper assembly or the pen assembly. This arrangement allows the user to place the sheath over the pen assembly for safe keeping while using the calipers. This arrangement also allows the user to place the sheath over the caliper assembly so the pen-caliper can be safely carried on the body. While this arrangement allows for a compact device that is capable of functioning both as a pen and a caliper, the functionality of both the pen and caliper are compromised by this design. When using the device as a caliper, the device is gripped at some point along the barrel of the pen, either with or without the caliper""s protective sheath in place. The pen barrel is fixedly attached to the caliper, and adds excessive weight and length to the gripping area of the device when used as a caliper. This weight and length reduces the fine control of the device when it is deployed as a caliper, thus limiting the user""s ability to make accurate measurements on an ECG. The current device has attempted to overcome the heavy weight of the caliper, which was outlined above, by decreasing the diameter of the pen barrel. While this does increase the devices functionality as a caliper by a small margin, it greatly decreases the devices functionality as a pen. The resultant small size of the pen grip makes the device when used as a pen unsuitable for sustained writing, as the users hand will quickly fatigue. Additionally, the small size of the pen barrel limits the size of the pen refill, which makes this device suitable only for making short notations. However, because a physician will write reams of information in the medical record over the course of a normal day he/she will out of necessity need to carry a separate instrument that is more suited to sustained writing. Additionally, this device can only be employed serially as a caliper or a penxe2x80x94it cannot be used as a caliper and a writing instrument in parallel. If the user wishes to make a notation while simultaneously employing the caliper to make a measurement from a graph, he/she must use a second writing instrument to make this notation. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,571 would not eliminate the need for the physician to carry a second writing instrument in addition to this pen-caliper device.
None of the foregoing devices satisfactorily fill the needs of a physician who must carry both a writing instrument and calipers. It would be desirable for a physician and others to have a single instrument which can be used as calipers for measuring distances on ECGs or the like and can be used as comfortable writing instrument.
It is the object of the disclosed invention to provide a writing instrument-caliper system that can be utilized as a writing instrument, can also be used as a caliper to measure and compare distances on a chart or ECG, and can be safely carried in a shirt pocket without risk of the caliper points poking through the clothing and skin of the user.
Briefly described, and in accordance with one embodiment thereof, the invention provides a pen-caliper system which includes a pen device and a caliper device integrated into a single unit. The pen device is constructed such that the pen barrel is hollow and of sufficient size so as to snugly receive the caliper device. The arms and sharp end-points of the caliper therefore rest within the confines of the pen barrel for safekeeping. The system can be deployed as a writing instrument while the caliper is either in or out of its storage position in the hollow barrel of the pen device. To deploy the caliper, the caliper device is removed from the pen barrel and employed as an independent instrument, hence ensuring the functionality of the caliper by maintaining a relatively small size and low weight which is not encumbered by being fixedly attached to the pen device. This writing instrument-caliper system can be employed as a caliper and a writing instrument in parallel, thus allowing the user to make notations while simultaneously deploying the system""s caliper.
The pen device having a pen barrel, a ballpoint ink cartridge in the barrel, and a mechanism engaging the ink cartridge and the barrel to advance the ink cartridge when the pen barrel is rotated so as to position a ballpoint tip of the ink cartridge for writing. The mechanism also effectuates retracting of the ballpoint tip into the pen barrel when the pen barrel is rotated in the opposite direction. The barrel of the pen opposite to the pen nib is hollow and capable of receiving the caliper device.
The caliper device has first and second caliper arms each having a pointed tip, and first and second gear elements attached to pivot ends of the first and second caliper arms, respectively. The first and second gear elements engage each other to cause symmetrical opening and closing of the first and second caliper arms. A pivot support is used to support first and second pivot elements, which pivotally connect the pivot ends of the first and second caliper arms to the pivot support. The caliper device can be inserted snuggly into the end of the pen device barrel such that the barrel serves as a rigid protective sheath for the caliper.
A user can remove the caliper device from the pen barrel to expose the first and second caliper arms. The user later can place the caliper device into the pen device barrel and retract the ballpoint tip so the pen-caliper system can be safely carried in a pocket of a user""s clothing or the like.